The equity of exclusionary school discipline

Abstract

This paper explores the equity in school suspension between Black and white students and among students from families with different economic backgrounds. The existing literature and popular press report that Black students are more likely to be out-of-school suspended than white students, on average. Using administrative data on students from North Carolina public schools over eight academic years, we find that the direction of racial disparity depends importantly on the type of offenses when students are compared within the same school. While Black students are more likely to be suspended for fighting and theft, white students are more likely to be suspended for insubordination and disrespect toward faculty. We also find that economically disadvantaged students are more likely to be suspended across all types of offenses.